Kin
by kayel29
Summary: After a family reunion, Jason confronts some long standing issues and eats take-out  Part 4 of 'Burn 'Verse'


Warnings: References to Sex Pollen, threatened non-con, hints at robincest.

Fandom: DCU [which does not belong to me btw] 

There must be some seriously shitty karma that ensured nothing ever went as planned, some sort of fucked up deity that thought it was funny to screw with everything Jason did. Just as he thought he had a handle on the Nightwing Situation, it all went to hell in a hand basket.

The day after the mind-meltingly hot make out session on the roof, Jason was in his bedroom, suiting up ready for a night of fighting crime or something a bit less tacky. Suddenly, his phone rang. A grand total of two people had his cell number and the call was unrecognized. He looked at it suspiciously for a moment before answering.

"Hello?" the voice was familiar and sounded tense.

He remained silent.

"Hello? Jason?"

"Who is this?" Jason kept his voice neutral, but he couldn't help moving away from the window and casting a wary eye around the room.

"Its Tim, Tim Drake"

Jason didn't bother to ask how the little Bat Brat got his number, or why he was using his civilian name. If Tim was calling him of all people then it must be something serious.

"And?" he said, his voice brusque. He could feel his body reacting to the potential threat, ready for a fight and he finished his equipment check. If he was going to have to use his phone he would need to leave his helmet behind.

"You need to find Dick – right now. I'm tracking them, him. I'll direct you – bring tranqs"

"Mind telling me what the fuck is going on and why you think I should get involved?" Jason asked as he checked the bullets in his revolver. He swung open the skylight and the ladder rattled under his boots as he headed for the roof.

"Well?" he asked when Tim didn't answer him.

"There isn't anyone else that can catch up to them in time – and I know you and Dick are on speaking terms." Jason could almost hear the blush in the kids voice – apparently someone had been nosy and gotten an eyeful yesterday. He smirked.

"And the situation is?"

"Ivy" Tim whispered, his voice strained. "Head north into new town"

If he was keeping his voice low it meant he was within hearing distance of civilians, and couldn't get away – thus the reason for the lack of code names, but more importantly the busybody Bat knew where he lived, the little shit... Time to move. "He's been dosed by Ivy? You sure you want me to go?" Jason didn't bother to hide the lasciviousness in his voice.

"Not him, Bruce!"

Not good.

"On my way, stay on the line." He was a seasoned vigilante and used to dealing with awkward shit, but swinging from building to building whilst speaking on a cell phone was harder than it sounded, and kind of embarrassing. He was going to hurt Dick for putting him though this. After he had beaten the crap out of Batman.

Tim directed him street-by-street, precise and steady despite his obvious anxiety; Jason had to give him points for that, not that he would ever tell him.

"Why aren't you out there?" He asked

"Injured last night, out of commission for a few days and having to play host to Bruce's society 'friends' whilst trying to make excuses for his absence. Luckily I have the main system hooked up to my cell." Tim sounded frustrated. Jason could relate - as quick as he was traveling he had a feeling it was not quick enough.

"Give me details, kid" his voice was loud over the rushing of the wind as he maneuvered between the close-set buildings of New town; he was making progress.

"B was dosed with something new, something potent. After being hit he followed protocol but the stuff didn't respond to the usual antidote."

"Was Robin there?" The Demon spawn was far from Jason's favorite person, but he was a child, and shouldn't have to be involved in something like that.

"Yes, but he was out of the way when things went down – apparently he was dunked several times in to something purple, sticky and stinky." There was a wry, slightly amused note to Tim's voice. "His communicators and most of his suit was corroded although he didn't suffer any damage to himself "

Jason nodded, "The stuff didn't effect organic material, huh? Sounds like ivy"

"Turn right here. Do you see the tower block with the blinking lights?"

Jason grunted in assent.

"He did collect a sample of the chemical that got B. I'm running tests on it and will have a synthesized antidote with in the hour." Tim sounded sure, like he had decided this was going to work out now; Jason was following orders like a good little doggy.

Jason was a pessimist though, and would do whatever was necessary – he had tranquilizers, but he had bullets too.

Time passed slowly, like the rushing of the wind against his face was just an illusion.

"How much longer till I get there" Jason barked down the phone. "Its fucking awkward talking in this thing and flying at the same time!"

"If you would accept a com-link and play by the rules this charade wouldn't be necessary would it?"

And here Jason had almost forgotten that he couldn't stand the sanctimonious little shit. He scowled to himself, and wished he could risk hanging up.

"The last communication I got was from the building ahead of you, Hansen and Sons." Tim's voice was louder again, he must have moved away from the crowds.

It was an office block, the 15th floor window was smashed, alarms were going off and the police had yet to show up – normally Jason would sneer in contempt but tonight he was pleased 'Batman and Son have fight/sex/murder each other' would not be the headline in tomorrow's papers. He released his jump line and sailed thought the blown out window – inside it was a battle ground of swivel chairs and partially dismembered cubicles.

He could hear them before he could see them, panting and growling and when he found them he pulled up short – shocked, although he shouldn't be; it wasn't Nightwing laid out beneath his mentor – it was Dick Grayson, dressed in black sweat pants and what might have once been a tee shirt, his face still horribly bruised from the night before. There was a second when the three of them were frozen. The sight of Bruce always struck Jason with so many feelings– anger, betrayal, hate and traitorous, traitorous love. He was used to the flood of emotion; braced for it. This situation was different, it cut at his defenses in ways he couldn't even begin to sort out.

It was a moment of clarity, something horrid and something beautiful – what he saw before him was a testament of the love and trust and the fucked up connection between these two men. Dick was not fighting, was holding back every instinct he had that must have been screaming at him to knock Batman's teeth out, to struggle and escape – actions that might trigger Bruce to further aggression. And Bruce – off his face on sex pollen was resisting, he was trembling with the effort, but his iron will was holding. It was an impressive achievement on both their parts and it filled Jason with a weird combination of joy and misery.

Unsure how to feel he settled for something familiar. Anger - _Hello old friend_ – he caught himself before loading his clip into Batman, and instead pulled out his dart gun – it was small, only a few inches in diameter, so he only had one shot.

No way he was going to miss. He barreled into Bruce knocking him bodily away from Dick, Jason let the momentum carry him over until he landed on top. Without wasting a moment he fired his dart gun at point blank range, right in to the soft, exposed skin of Bruce's throat. Then he punched him in the face, just for good measure and because there was no other way for him to express his conflicted feelings. It felt good so he did it again.

Dick didn't stop him, he lay there looking at the stark gray ceiling of the office, his eyes were wide and his breathing was erratic. Jason stopped hitting Batman with some difficulty, but after a final teeth crunching blow he moved towards his brother. He flipped open his phone. "Situation contained, but one party is a civilian. Can you get rid of all the security footage of this building? Of the whole fucked up event?" Jason scrubbed a hand over his mouth . "No one needs to see the adopted son of a billionaire in a compromising situation with the Batman."

Tim sucked in a breath "Give me five. The civilians status?"

"Shocked but ok" Jason answered helping Dick to his feet. He looked wired, so high on adrenaline he was practically vibrating.

"When are we clear, brat?" Jason asked Tim.

"Now, and screw you 'hood"

Jason hung up the phone and turned his attention to his older brother, who was looking at Batman with an unreadable expression on his face. " Dick?" Jason said, quietly. Dick shook himself and moved to Batman's side, he checked him over briefly, taking a pulse, then he carefully removed Bruce's com link and put it in his own ear. "Hey Timmy," he said quietly, then paused, listening. "Ok, I'll be ready."

Dicks bruised face was impassive when he turned to Jason. "Thanks for the assist, but you should go." He gave a wry smile. "You should patrol, nearly everyone else is out of commission."

Jason didn't like to be told what to do – but the tight lines around his brothers mouth made him pause. "Sure."

Patrol was easy, and he didn't kill anyone - not because he didn't want to, but he was distracted. He knew his fucked up family well enough to understand the ramifications of what happened this evening, of the effects it would have. Firstly, Dick almost certainly put himself in Batman's way – better him than a civilian. Secondly, if they had not held out until he arrived, it would have broken Bruce – destroyed him. They both knew that, and as soon as Bruce was awake they would fight about it. Batman would refuse to talk it out, would yell and then brood. And Dick would storm off.

But whilst Batman sulked, it would eat away at Dick, combined with the shock and fear he had felt at the time – you never got over that, you just learned not to show it. He would sink into a pit of depression and wallow in it, putting himself in harms way and cutting himself off from his usual sources of comfort. It was pathetic and predictable, and Jason was either going to find away to avoid it or go on vacation until the whining, brooding and foot stomping was over with. Step one was probably going to have to involve waylaying Dick before the angsting had had a chance to really get going.

Jason had never been to Dick's place before. He knew where it was of course, but had never bothered to sneak in and have a look. The security was pretty damn good but Jason prided himself on his breaking and entering skills, and he let himself in quietly. Dick wasn't back, so he took the opportunity to have a snoop around. The apartment was spacious and clean, but messy – mostly papers and books. He wandered through to the kitchen, it was breakfast time, and he was damn hungry. The fridge contained a carton of milk, two lots of old pizza and something nasty in a bowl. The cupboards had obnoxious sugary cereal and tinned soup. There was nothing to make a sandwich with, no bread, no butter. There was however a bouquet of take-out menus as well as some loose change and Jason ordered himself some Kung Pao Chicken, Red Curry and special coconut rice. Gotham sucked, but if you want take-out at 7.14 in the morning? No problem.

Whilst he was waiting for his food Jason stuck his head into his brothers bedroom. The place was a bombsite; there was stuff everywhere, clothes on the floor, papers on the bed, a pile of books threatening to topple over just in front of the closet. There was some sort of mini wall of crazy stuck to the mirror; newspaper clipping, photos, hand written notes, all creeping over the glass and up towards the ceiling like some kind of insidious vine. Some of the articles were about him – or the Red Hood at least. Jason wasn't sure what to feel about that.

He had devoured most of his food by the time Dick returned, his brother was dressed in an old Gotham knights jacket, and he scowled at Jason when he saw him sitting at the counter – he didn't seem surprised to see someone in the room, probably due to the smell of Jason's breakfast permeating the loft.

Jason ignored Dick's murderous expression as he prowled towards the kitchenette

"I would have set a plate for you but you didn't have the proper utensils" He waved his fork for emphasis "Why do you only own one chopstick Dickie?"

"Do you own chopsticks, Jason?" Dick growled at him. Yep he was definitely pissed.

"Why yes, I do – I rather like them." He waggled his eyebrows

"Get the fuck out"

Dick was right up in his face, and he could tell he was seconds away from getting decked, this was not in is original plan in coming here, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. "Is that anyway to talk to a guy who bought you dinner?" He pushed the carton of mostly eaten curry and rice over ."Well, technically its breakfast"

"You bought me food with my own money"

"Good to see your detective skills are still finely honed"

"Then you ate most of it, leaving me the stuff I don't like."

Jason He looked at the remains of his food, he had already finished the chicken. "Seriously? How can you object to…"

"I don't like coconut" Dick interrupted, pushing Jason roughly until he slid of the stool, he shoved him towards the door.

"Really?"

"Really. Look Jason, it was been a long, stressful day and night and now day again. I need to crash, so can you please get out?"

Jason pretended to think about it. "No"

Dick looked defeated. "Stay then, I'm going to bed." He stormed towards his bedroom leaving Jason feeling frustrated. He hadn't come here make more trouble, but somehow he just couldn't stop reacting to him, to his obvious distress. The sensible thing to do was to leave, especially when there was so much tension between them. Shoveling down one last delicious mouthful, he headed for his brothers room.

Dick had stripped down to his boxers and was pulling back his sheets when he slipped through the door and if looks could kill Jason would probably have been begging for his life. He approached carefully palms up, if he had a white flag he would have waved it. Dick continued to stare at him, his expression sliding from furious to confused. Slowly, with no sudden moves he pulled Dick towards him, into an embrace. His brother froze, body tense as Jason held him. "If you tell anybody about this, I will cut you". Jason said, partly to relieve the tension and partly because it was true. Dick relaxed against him, bringing his own arms up to return the hug.

"Ditto"

Jason grinned. "You do know your own reputation when it comes to cuddling is already shot to shit, right?"

"It is?"

It was impossible to tell if he was being serious or not. So Jason hid his smile in his brothers hair. It smelled of strong, harsh soap – he had scrubbed himself down with the serious cleaner in the Batcave. Not a good sign

"He told me to get out. I don't think he just meant out of the cave."

"Oh for… look Dick, you scared him, he scared himself –so he is very predictably going to react the way he always does when he accidentally has an emotion about something – he blocks it out and pushes away the source." He knocked his head gently against his brother's. "You know that same as I do, same as the smarmy little bat brat who totally saved your ass today."

Dick pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed. "I know." He didn't look like the knowledge mattered much. "He would never have given in you know." Dick wouldn't meet his eyes. "He held out, would have even if you hadn't arrived."

Jason didn't answer, he had his doubts. Dick's gaze flicked up to meet his.

"Thanks, though."

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, just get some sleep and give him some space for a few days." He backed up towards the door.

"Stay," Dick looked at him, "if you want."

Jason hesitated "Make up your mind Dickie, you're giving me whiplash."

"Stay. If you have nowhere else to be."

Jason nodded and watched as Dick navigated his way through the piles of crap to his closet. He dug around for a moment before throwing a pair of loose sweat pants at him. They were too big to be Dick's. Harpers maybe, Jason ruthlessly squashed down the jealousy that rose like bile in his throat.

So, here he was in bed with Nightwing again, but this time was different, there was no underlying sexual charge, just a lot of shared memories and misery. Jason sighed again, staring at the ceiling. "Maybe you should think about giving yourself some space, get out of Gotham," he said quietly. He could tell Dick was awake, but it took a moment for him to answer.

"Are you suggesting I should move somewhere else?"

"No you moron, I mean take a vacation. Get out of the city for the weekend, let him cool off and you need chill the fuck out"

Dick was silent but his leg was twitching, fidgeting in the darkness. It was driving Jason mad. "For fuck sake! I'll come with you want!" he burst out.

Dick sniffed. "So, you're asking me to run away with you?" His voice was breathy and serious, but he ruined it by adding, "That's really romantic Jaybird, should we head to Vegas and elope?"

Jason growled and turned away "I really fucking hate you."

Dick was snickering quietly, and a strong arm curled over Jason's waist. Dick's body relaxed against his back and the annoying twitching stopped. There was a soft puff of air on his neck as Dick let out a final huffy little laugh.

Jason tried to ignore the warm relieved feeling that sound stirred in him. But it wasn't as easy has it had been.

He was so fucked.


End file.
